Thank God I'm Atheist

Kate fills in for Frank this week, joining Dan for a conversation about neurodivergence, religious belief, and why some brains may process spiritual experiences differently than others. They compare religion to imagination, play, and believing in Santa, and wonder whether neurodivergent people may be less inclined to attach supernatural meaning to powerful emotional experiences.
But first:

A Texas evangelical takes matters into his own hands when the flag is lowered to honor Dolly Parton.
Samaritan's Purse turns down $300 million from the Trump administration—and nobody seems quite sure why.
Bethel Church racks up scandals, failed prophecies, and some remarkably durable forgiveness for badly behaved men.
A Maine court rules that a father can restrict his daughter's exposure to a church whose teachings were causing her severe anxiety.
Christian evangelists get kicked out of Burning Man and, naturally, call it persecution.
Catholic televangelist Fulton Sheen is headed for beatification, complete with a miracle, a mysterious relic, and possibly a piece of the man himself.

This week, we remember two iconic figures who helped make the world feel a little more accepting in very different ways. Dolly Parton embodied a version of Christianity rooted in love, generosity, and an instinctive refusal to exclude people who weren't like her. Tim Curry, meanwhile, helped bring transgressive sexuality, camp, and gender-bending performance into the cultural mainstream. Together, they represent two very different paths toward the same idea of giving people permission to be fully themselves

Also:

An Anglican church in hot water after a visit from a sex worker.
Miss North Carolina loses her crown—and calls it Christian persecution.
Catholic doctors push back against Illinois' assisted-dying law.
Did New Jersey make prayer illegal?
Milo Yiannopoulos gets an unexpected lesson in immigration enforcement.
AI-generated religious influencers are gaining millions of followers.

Texas conservatives are taking their anti-Muslim crusade to a new level: questioning whether Islam should even count as a religion. Frank and Dan look at the effort to redefine religious freedom so Christianity gets ever-expanding protections while Muslim beliefs and practices can be dismissed as merely "cultural" and therefore fair game for government restriction.
Elsewhere, a transgender wedding in Bangladesh triggers a police inquiry; Israel turns away a delegation of American Christians headed to meet Palestinians; a pardoned January 6 rioter takes his anti-Muslim crusade to Dearborn; Arizona's Supreme Court says a pastor's recorded confession to child abuse isn't protected by clergy privilege; churches accuse DHS of spying on congregations protecting immigrants; and Texas's Ten Commandments classroom mandate moves closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Who owns a symbol? And who gets to decide what it means? This week, we look at how symbols can be stolen, reclaimed, transformed, or ruined, from the swastika and pink triangle to the rainbow and the cross.
Also this week: the sky evangelist picks a fight with Alaska Airlines, Canada's military makes room for nonbelievers, halal barbecue takes off in Texas, a Christian influencer says aliens harvested her eggs, the State Department sends billions through faith-based aid groups, and the White Sox celebrate their hometown pope.

As Christian nationalism tightens its grip on the nation's politics, a new crop of progressive candidates is putting faith front and center. From James Talarico to Abdul El-Sayed, the religious left is making a more explicit play for political power (and challenging the idea that Republicans get to own God). Can religious progressives provide an effective counterweight to Christian nationalism, or are we just inviting more religion into a political system that could use a lot less of it?
Also on the show: Christians find God on both sides of the fight over massive AI data centers; Florida's attorney general picks a fight with Catholic schools over vaccine exemptions; the Arizona Supreme Court hands the Mormon Church a win in a horrific child-abuse case; anti-Muslim opposition to a proposed mosque lands an Oklahoma city in court; new data reveals just how differently Mormons practice their religion around the world; and Texas' mandatory Ten Commandments displays face a new legal challenge.